Chanty
Team chat and collaboration with channels, audio/video calls, and task management
Open-Source Projects
Discover top open-source software, updated regularly with real-world adoption signals.
Discover top open-source software, updated regularly with real-world adoption signals.
Open-source community platform with discussions, chat, and plugins
Self-hosted community platform built with Ruby on Rails and Ember.js. Features discussion forums, real-time chat, extensive customization through themes and plugins, and battle-tested reliability.
Discourse is a mature, open-source community platform designed for organizations that want complete control over their discussion infrastructure. Built on Ruby on Rails and Ember.js, it has been battle-tested for over a decade by thousands of communities worldwide.
The platform combines traditional discussion forums with real-time chat capabilities, creating a unified space for both asynchronous and live conversations. An extensive ecosystem of official and community themes enables visual customization, while plugins extend functionality—from AI-powered chatbots to advanced SQL analysis tools via the Data Explorer.
Discourse supports self-hosting on your own infrastructure, giving you full ownership of your data and deployment environment. It requires Ruby 3.3+, PostgreSQL 13, and Redis 7. For teams preferring managed solutions, official Discourse hosting handles setup, maintenance, and server management. The platform supports all major modern browsers and mobile platforms, with a commitment to accessibility following W3C WCAG guidelines.
When teams consider Discourse, these hosted platforms usually appear on the same shortlist.
Looking for a hosted option? These are the services engineering teams benchmark against before choosing open source.
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Discourse requires Ruby 3.3+, PostgreSQL 13, and Redis 7. Docker and Dev Container setups are available, with detailed guides for macOS, Ubuntu/Debian, and Windows environments.
Yes, Discourse offers official managed hosting that handles setup, maintenance, and server management. Visit discourse.org/pricing for hosting options.
Discourse is licensed under GNU General Public License Version 2.0 (or later). Review the GPL-2.0 terms to ensure compatibility with your use case.
Yes, Discourse supports the latest stable releases of all major browsers and platforms, including iOS 16.4+, iPadOS, and Android devices.
Discourse supports plugins for adding features like AI chatbots and SQL analysis tools, plus an extensive library of official and community themes for visual customization.
Project at a glance
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